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Meghan Markle's career outside the royal family has seen growing interest over the past two years, as the duchess has discussed her hopes and ambitions for the future in a number of interviews, and also seen her former TV show, Suits, dominate streaming charts in the U.S.
Meghan began her career as an actor out of college and starred in a number of TV projects, including the gameshow Deal or No Deal, before landing a recurring role on the legal drama Suits in 2011.
The future royal played the role of paralegal Rachel Zane and starred in seven seasons of the show, before retiring from acting to take up life as a working royal when she became engaged to Prince Harry in 2017.
Suits wrapped in 2019 and in 2023, the show was added to Netflix's streaming library. Combined with streams from Peacock's platform, the show saw a resurgence in interest, breaking consecutive Nielsen records.
In January 2024, it was reported by Variety that off the back of this new success Meghan's co-stars, Gabriel Macht and Patrick Adams, will present at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards.
When she spilt with the monarchy alongside Prince Harry in 2020, Meghan moved back to the U.S. and revived her entertainment industry career, launching Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio, signing partnerships with Netflix and Spotify, as well as personally becoming a client of the William Morris Endeavor talent agency in 2023.
But Meghan's return to Hollywood has not been smooth. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Newsweek that the duchess hit a number of setbacks, including losing the couple's partnership with Spotify and being labeled "grifters" by an executive, as well as being named one of 2023's "losers" by The Hollywood Reporter.
"Time will tell if this is true, but things don't look promising," Fitzwilliams said. "Meghan needs appearances at the forthcoming awards and, above all, to create something of note."
Meghan, however, has spoken optimistically about the future, noting a number of "exciting" projects on the horiz0n.
Here, Newsweek looks at everything Meghan has said on the record about her hopes for her future career and the direction it will take.
Based on Love
In August 2022, Meghan gave her first major interview since the bombshell sit-down she did alongside Prince Harry with Oprah Winfrey the previous year.
For the first time, the duchess discussed her plans for her entertainment career, producing content with Harry for Netflix, which she said would take its inspiration from "love" stories.
Meghan Markle to Allison P. Davis in an interview for The Cut—
August 2022
"The piece of my life I haven't been able to share, that people haven't been able to see, is our love story," she says, then quotes what she says was the end of a speech she gave at her wedding, in which she took comfort in the "resounding knowing that, above all, love wins." She adds, "I hope that is the sentiment that people feel when they see any of the content or the projects that we are working on."
'A Good Rom-Com'
Two months later, Meghan sat down with entertainment industry bible, Variety, discussing in more detail her desire to produce meaningful content.
It was in this interview that the duchess also revealed that she had no plans to return to acting, instead looking to develop a career behind the camera.
When asked what kind of content she would be creating with Harry for Netflix, Meghan affirmed again that they would be basing projects off of "love" stories, whether it be "partner love, self-love, the love of community and family."
She also said that she would like to see the return of a "good rom-com" to theaters, saying: "I've watched When Harry Met Sally a million times. And all the Julia Roberts rom-coms. We need to see those again."
Meghan Markle in an interview for Variety—October 2022
"So much of how my husband and I see things is through our love story. I think that's what people around the world connected to, especially with our wedding. People love love. I'm not excluded in that sentiment. And our definition of love is really expansive: Partner love, self-love, the love of community and family. We use that as the baseline of the kind of shows and documentaries we want out there...
"...we want to think about how we can evolve from that same space and do something fun! It doesn't always have to be so serious. Like a good rom-com. Don't we miss them? I miss them so much. I've probably watched "When Harry Met Sally" a million times. And all the Julia Roberts rom-coms. We need to see those again."
An 'Exciting' Slate
Most recently, Meghan was asked about her future projects on the red carpet of the Variety Power of Women gala in November 2023.
Speaking to broadcaster Angelique Jackson, the duchess said that her production company had "so many exciting things on the slate," and was excited to announce them.
The Archewell Productions output halted during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strikes in 2023, and so far have announced only one future project, a scripted adaptation of Carley Fortune's hit novel, Meet Me at the Lake.
Meghan Markle to Angelique Jackson in red carpet interview at the Variety Power of Women Gala—November 2023
"We have so many exciting things on the slate. I can't wait until we can announce them but I'm just really proud of what we're creating and my husband is loving it too."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more